Hammerhands
|upkeep_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = * |defense = |resist = * |hits = |abilities = Mountaineer }} Hammerhands are a type of Normal Unit. This unit is unique to the Dwarf race, and may only be created at a Dwarf town, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain a Fighters' Guild for this to be possible. Hammerhands are quite possibly the strongest Normal Unit in terms of sheer offensive strength. Though each Hammerhand's attack strength is not too impressive on its own, all attacking in unison can overwhelm and destroy low-tier and even mid-tier Fantastic Creatures with ease. Hammerhands are also significantly healthier than any other Dwarves and are incredibly Resistant to ill magic. Hammerhands can also cross all mountainous terrain as easily as other units cross Grasslands, but they struggle when crossing Grasslands. Hammerhands will almost always have at least one Experience Level by default ("Regular"). This makes them even stronger than described above, and they'll just keep getting stronger as more and more Experience is accumulated. Hammerhands require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Failure to pay these costs will result in the unit being disbanded automatically. Unit Properties Physical Description Hammerhands are a group of Dwarves - short, stocky and bearded humanoids. They wear colored tunics with partial steel plate armor, helmets and gauntlets. Each Hammerhand carries a war-hammer, and is exceptionally proficient in its use during combat. Dwarves have a terrific constitution, and do not succumb easily to neither damage nor ill magic. They are also at home in mountainous terrain, which allows them to cross it easily. They are wary of plains however, and travel slowly on such terrain. Hammerhands are a , containing when fully healed. Attack Properties Hammerhands are adept Melee Attackers, and possess what is probably the strongest Melee Attack of any Normal Unit. As long as the unit is kept at full health, its Melee Attack is strong enough to kill both heavily-armored opponents and entire with ease. Each Hammerhand is only mildly powerful, with a Melee Attack strength of . Since Hammerhands are almost always created with one free , this is normally increased to . With no additional bonuses, each Hammerhand therefore delivers about on average - a very high amount, which is almost guaranteed to get through any armor. This is not the highest damage output available to Normal Units, but remember that a fully-healed Hammerhands unit contains . With all figures attacking in unison, the total damage output is quite massive, outdoing any other Normal Unit in the game. Hammerhands can thus effectively engage Fantastic Units and Heroes, standing a good chance to injure or even kill them with a single attack. Needless to say, Hammerhands can utterly destroy other Normal Units without even breaking a sweat. Defense Properties The Hammerhands' plate armor provides them with a Defense score of . This blocks an average of from any attack, and thus confers good protection from weaker Normal Units, but is not enough to protect them from the kinds of heavy-hitting targets they normally contend with. On the other hand, Hammerhands are even more healthy than other Dwarves, with each Hammerhand possessing (for a total of in a fully-healed unit). With this much health, Hammerhands can stand up to very powerful targets with little fear. This is one of the reasons why Hammerhands can safely engage creatures much stronger than themselves, such as mid-tier Fantastic Units and Heroes. Finally, the Hammerhands possess a Resistance score of by default. Again, since Hammerhands are almost always created with at least one , their actual initial Resistance score will likely be a "perfect" . This renders the Hammerhands completely immune to several kinds of Curses and other ill effects. With each additional Experience Level they gain, Hammerhands become immune to a wider and wider variety of ill effects, and can potentially become immune to all of them. Other Properties Hammerhands move at a slow speed of . They cannot move across Ocean or Shore tiles, and thus are restricted to land. Most Dwarves possess the innate ability of Mountaineer. This theoretically allows the unit - as well as any other unit stacked with it - to move across specific types of rough Terrain at a cost of only 1 Movement Point per tile. This includes Mountain tiles, Hill tiles, and Volcanoes. Unfortunately, Hammerhands are too slow to exploit this, unless their Movement Allowance is increased in some way. On the other hand, the same ability also increases the cost of moving across Grassland to 3 points per tile. This means that if the Hammerhands are sped-up in some way, they will travel very slowly across Grasslands. Again, Hammerhands usually move too slowly to feel this effect. Basic Strategy The Hammerhands' relative strength cannot be emphasized enough: they are strong enough to take on enemy Fantastic Creatures, and several Hammerhands banding together might be able to subdue even powerful dragons and well-equipped Heroes. More commonly, Hammerhands will utterly wipe out any Normal Unit that dares approach them. The key to this is the high number of in a healthy Hammerhands unit. As long as all figures are alive, the unit delivers a massive amount of damage that is comparable to a mid-tier Fantastic Unit, thus threatening pretty much anything the Hammerhands come across. Like other Dwarf units, the Hammerhands are not used with any real finesse during combat - they pick their target and head straight for it, then make as many attacks against it as they can. Thanks to the Hammerhands' high Hit Points, they can probably last a few rounds against most opponents. However, each time a Hammerhand figure dies, the unit becomes significantly weaker, so it is very important to keep the Hammerhands fully healed if at all possible. Hammerhands are surprisingly cheap to construct, considering their awesome strength. This allows any serious Dwarf empire to produce them in great numbers, as long as sufficient and can be produced to maintain them. Several Hammerhands can band together to kill creatures much stronger than themselves, and a whole army of Hammerhands is difficult to stop. If resources are available, the Dwarves can rely almost entirely on Hammerhands for all offensive operations, and for guarding frontier towns. Still, for the strongest opponents, it may be a good idea to bring along some Golems when invading enemy territory. Note that theoretically, Hammerhands should be able to scout and to lead other units through rough terrain - especially Mountains - with great ease. However, the Hammerhands themselves are so slow that no effect will be felt unless their Movement Allowance was somehow increased. Ability Overview Mountaineer * This unit may move through any Hills, Mountain or Volcano tile at a rate of 1 Movement Point per tile. * When this unit is stacked with other units, the entire stack may move through these tiles at a rate of 1 Movement Point per tile. * On the other hand, traveling into Grassland tiles costs this unit and its stack exactly 3 Movement Points. Experience Table The following table illustrates how Hammerhands improve as they gain Experience. Any properties that are not listed here do not improve with Experience in any way. * To achieve this level, either the Warlord Retort or the Crusade spell must be in play. ** To achieve this level, both the Warlord Retort and the Crusade spell must be in play simultaneously. Average Damage Output The table below details the average amount of damage that each in a Hammerhands unit will deliver with each type of attack, based on . It can be used in comparison to the target's Defense rating to figure out the chance of hurting that target. Acquisition Hammerhands are unique to the Dwarf race, and thus may be produced in any Dwarf Town. A town must contain a Fighters' Guild to be able to produce Hammerhands. Should a town lose an existing Fighters' Guild, it can no longer produce Hammerhands until a replacement structure is built. Note that this building requirement means that Hammerhands produced in towns will always start as "Regular" troops (one free Experience Level), giving them a small but significant bonus above the default unit strength. The Construction Cost of this unit is . Hammerhands may appear for hire as Mercenaries. They may already have some Experience on being hired, and several units may be hired simultaneously. Hiring these units requires a certain cost in that depends on many different factors. Hammerhand Mercenaries have the same Upkeep Cost as a normally-constructed unit. Category:Units Category:Normal Units Category:Dwarves